Casket setting



Dec. 22, 1942; y c, THOMASSON 2,305,647

CASKET SE-TTING Filed 001:. 18, 1940 Patented Dec. 22, 1942 CASKET SETTING Arthur C. Thomasson, Spencer, W. Va., assignor to Draperies, Incorporated, a corporation of Virginia Application October 18, 1940, Serial No. 361,794

3 Claims.

This invention relates to a display device, or more particularly to a casket setting to be used as a background for a casket which may be effective to conceal objects of furniture or the like and which Will have a pleasing, dignified appearance for ceremonies in which caskets are em ployed, and the invention of course will be found of utility in other capacities.

An object of this invention is to provide an assembly which can be readily transported, installed and folded to occupy comparatively little space when not in use.

It-is furthermore an object of this invention to provide a pedestal in which a mounting for ribs may be housed, the said ribs being pivoted to the mounting to be movable therewith when it is lowered or elevated with respect to the pedestal;

and the invention furthermore provides for a web or covering for the ribs which is foldable with the ribs or extendible therewith, according to the uses to which the device is intended.

It is furthermore an object of the invention to provide a display device of the character indicated having illuminating features so that the web or rib covering may have light reflected on it.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a device of the character indicated which will prove efficient and satisfactory in use, as well as comparatively inexpensive.

With the foregoing and other objects in view,

the invention consists in the details of construction, and in the arrangement and combination of parts to be hereinafter more fully set forth and claimed.

In describing the invention in detail, reference will be had to the accompanying drawing forming part of this application, wherein lik characters denote corresponding partsin the several views, and in which:

Figure 1 illustrates a view in elevation, partly in section, of a casket setting embodying the inven tion;

Figure 2 illustrates a front view in elevation with the fan-like background unfolded or extended;

Figure 3 illustrates a view in elevation of a fragment of the pedestal, showing the rib mounting and the ribs without the web;

Figure 4 illustrates a detail view of the pedestal broken away to show the illuminating features;

Figure 5 illustrates a plan view of the pedestal with the rib mounting and the ribs collapsed;

Figure 6 illustrates a plan view showing the ribs extended but with some of the ribs omitted; and

Figure 7 illustrates a detail of a rib pivot.

In this drawing I0 denotes a hollow pedestal having a suitable base II and. the two opposed walls 12 and I3 are vertically channeled as at l4 to form guides for lugs, such as 15, for the rib mounting. Asid from the lugs which are connected to a plate Hi, the rib mounting also includes a plate 11. The plates l6 and I! are connected by a plurality of pintles, such as l8, on each of which a rib I9 is oscillatable, although it is obvious that the ribs may have pintles attached to them which are rotatable in apertures of the plates l6 and I1, this being a detail of construction which is obvious from an inspection of Fig. 7 showing a rib having pintles.

In a position which would preferably be forwardly of the rib mounting a shelf or support 28 is installed in the pedestal, on which illuminating means such as electric lamps 2| are applied; it being the purpose of the inventor that the illuminating effect on the web 22 will be pleasing and afford a background for a casket.

The web may be secured to the ribs in any appropriate way and since this is a detail of construction which will be obvious to those skilled in the art, it is believed unnecessary to describe or show the specific means for accomplishing this result. Since the ribs may be brought into parallel relation to one another, the mounting can be moved downwardly in the pedestal when they are in said Parallel position and when the said mounting is elevated they may be spread fan-like shaped, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. When the ribs and their mounting are assembled in the pedestal, a cover 23 may be applied to the upper end of the pedestal to encase the projecting ribs and web, and the cover may be held in place by fastenings 24, such as a hook and pin. The surface of the web may be of any appropriate color or appropriately ornamented.

I claim:

1. In a background screen for use with a casket, a base, a hollow pedestal carried thereby, vertical guide ways in said pedestal, a cross-head slidable in said ways and comprising spaced parallel plates, spaced pintles carried by said plates, a plurality of ribs mounted on said pintles between said plates, and a flexible covering secured to said ribs to produce a fan-like background when the ribs are separated and adapted to assume a folded position in which the ribs are substantially parallel.

2. In a background screen for use with a casket, a base, a hollow pedestal carried thereby, vertical guide ways in said pedestal, a cross-head slidable in said ways and comprising spaced parallel plates,

spaced pintles carried by said plates, a plurality of ribs mounted on said pintles between said plates, a flexible covering secured to said ribs to produce a fan-like background when the ribs are separated and adapted to assume a folded position in which the ribs are substantially parallel, a hollow cap member adapted to fit over the folded and retracted ribs and covering, means to detachably secure the cap member to the pedestal, and a handle member carried by the cap member, pedestal and base may be lifted and transported.

3. In a background screen for use with a casket, a base, a hollow pedestal carried thereby, vertical guide ways in opposite inner walls of said pedestal and spaced a substantial distance from a third wall of said pedestal, a cross-head slidable in said ways and comprising spaced parallel plates, spaced pintles carried by said plates, a plurality of ribs mounted on said pintles between the plates, a flexible covering secured to said ribs to produce a fan-like background when the ribs are separated and adapted to assume a folded position in which the ribs are substantially parallel, a supporting surface disposed within said pedestal in the space between the cross-head and the said third wall of the pedestal and spaced a substantial distance below the top of the pedestal, and illuminating means mounted on said supporting surface within said pedestal and disposed to i1- luminate the fan-like covering in its extended position while said illuminating means is concealed within the body of the pedestal.

ARTHUR C. THOMASSON. 

